British Land : Old Market, Hereford Now Fully Let

Development welcomes 1.6 million shoppers since opening

British Land is pleased to announce that River Island and Joules are the latest retailers to join the strong line-up of fashion brands at the recently opened £90 million Old Market shopping centre in Hereford.

The 310,000 sq ft Old Market shopping centre opened on 1 May 2014 and has welcomed more than 1.6 million visitors to date. With the last three remaining units at the scheme now under offer, the scheme is now fully let and under offer.

River Island has taken 12,900 sq ft and Joules has signed for 1,700 sq ft, both on 10 year leases. The retailers will complement the existing fashion provision which includes H&M, Next, Fat Face, TK Maxx and Outfit.

Wagamama (3,000 sq ft, 20 years), Paperchase (1,800 sq ft, 10 years), Vodafone (1,500 sq ft, 10 years) and local independent My Coffee Corner (450 sq ft, 5 years) have also recently opened new stores.

Joules, Wagamama and Paperchase are new brands to Hereford and the development marks the return of River Island to the city.

Claire Barber, Head of Shopping Centre Asset Management for British Land, said: "Old Market is a fantastic scheme delivering an impressive line-up of some of the best brands in the UK and we are delighted to further strengthen this with the addition of River Island and Joules. It is testament to the design, quality and location of the scheme that so many brands have chosen Old Market for their first stores in Hereford."

Old Market is anchored by the city's only department store, a three-storey, 85,000 sq ft full offer Debenhams and a 24,000 sq ft Waitrose store, the first in Hereford.

Leisure accounts for 21% of the scheme (by area), creating an evening economy and extending the centre's trading hours. The line-up includes a six-screen Odeon cinema, the city's first multi-screen cinema, as well as Chimichanga, Costa, Frankie & Benny's, Miller & Carter, My Coffee Corner, Nando's, Prezzo, Wagamama and Zizzi.

Located on the site of Hereford's former livestock market, Old Market comprises 18 retail units, eight restaurants, two cafés, five kiosks, a six-screen Odeon cinema, 600 car parking spaces and new public squares and spaces. The scheme created 1,100 jobs and Hereford rises 29 places in the UK retail rankings to 90. Wealthy Achievers account for 51% of Hereford residents, more than double the UK average. The catchment has a £244m comparison goods spend, which is forecast to rise by 47%, and a £52 million catering spend potential. Post development, Hereford's shopper population is expected to increase by 25%.

The scheme's letting agents are Strutt & Parker, Green & Partners and Cushman & Wakefield.

Notes to Editors

About British Land
We are one of Europe's largest publicly listed real estate companies. We own, manage, develop and finance a portfolio of high quality commercial property, focused on retail locations around the UK and London Offices & Residential. We have total assets in the UK, owned or managed of £17.8 billion (British Land share of which is £12.0 billion), as valued at 31 March 2014. Our properties are home to over 1,000 different organisations and receive over 300 million visits each year. Our objective is to deliver long-term and sustainable total returns to our shareholders and we do this by focusing on Places People Prefer. People have a choice where they work, shop and live and we aim to create outstanding places which make a positive difference to people's everyday lives. Our customer orientation enables us to develop a deep understanding of the people who use our places. We employ a lean team of experts, who have the skills to translate this understanding into creating the right places, and we have an efficient capital structure which is able to effectively finance these places.

UK Retail assets account for 53% of our portfolio. As the UK's largest listed owner and manager of retail space, our portfolio is well matched to the different ways people shop today, from major regional shopping centres to single occupier locations. We are focused on being the destination of choice for retailers and their customers by being the best provider of spaces and services. Comprising around 25 million sq ft of retail space across 66 retail parks, 85 superstores, 15 shopping centres, 12 department stores and 77 leisure assets, the retail portfolio is modern, flexible and adaptable to a wide range of formats.

Our Office and Residential portfolio, which accounts for 47% of our portfolio is focused on London. We have an attractive mix of high-quality buildings in well-managed environments and a pipeline of development projects which will add significantly to our portfolio. Increasingly, our offices are in mixed-use environments which include retail and residential elements. Our 7.3 million sq ft of high quality office space includes Regent's Place and Paddington Central in the West End and Broadgate, the premier City office campus (50% share).

Our size and substance demands a responsible approach to business. We believe leadership on issues such as sustainability helps drive our performance and is core to the delivery of our overall objective of driving shareholder value and creating Places People Prefer.

Further details can be found on the British Land website at www.britishland.com